https://harici.com.tr/rus-basini-almanya-kuzey-akimda-sucu-ukraynaya-yikarak-dosyayi-kapatacak/
"Russian press: Germany will close the file by blaming Ukraine in the North Stream . . . . hiding the role of the CIA and MI6 in sabotage. "
Yevgeniy Krutikov, who writes in Vzglyad, one of Russia's leading diplomatic publications, analyzed the detention of an SBU officer in Italy for North Stream sabotage. Krutikov stated that instead of uncovering the truth, this step is part of a cover-up operation aimed at blaming Ukraine entirely by hiding the role of the CIA and MI6 in sabotage.
Russian diplomatic publication Vzglyad writer Yevgeniy Krutikov scrutinized the situation of the Ukrainian Security Organization (SBU) officer who was detained in Italy in connection with the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022.
Krutikov said that this detention was not intended to reveal the truth, but rather that it was a "continuation of a cover-up operation" that aimed to hide the role of Western intelligence organizations in the incident.
It was announced that the person detained in Italy on August 18 with the European arrest warrant issued by Germany was 49-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov, who was working in the seventh anti-espionage office of the SBU.
The prosecutor's office stated that Kuznetsov and his partners went from Rostock to the sabotage zone with a sailboat they rented with fake documents.
Krutikov wrote that Kuznetsov's capture in Italy, an ally of Ukraine, raised a critical question mark.
In order to launch a bang against Kuznetsov, accusations of cooperation, unconstitutional sabotage and building demolition were charged. The Italian ANSA news agency reported that Kuznetsov's name was also mentioned in the investigation into the attack on the Maltese-flagged Seajewel oil tanker in the port of Savona in February.
“There were two separate groups of sabotage”
Krutikov conveyed the following information about the composition of the sabotage group, which included Kuznetsov, who has been on the list of suspects since 2024: Andrey Burgomistrenko, Roman Chervinskiy, Sergey Kuznetsov, Oleg Varavva, Ruslan Rudenko and Mariya Sitalo, one of the best technical divers in Ukraine.
The author stated that the group went through a long preparation process in Jitomir, then trained near a NATO base in Romania and went to Poland.
Krutikov wrote that there was a second group led by Vladimir Juravlyov, referring to the researches of the German Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit and ARD.
Krutikov said, "So there were two separate executive groups. One was playing a distracting role in protecting the main team," he said.
“The goal is to hide the role of the CIA and MI6”
Krutikov argued that an operation of this scale could not be carried out without the support of Western intelligence agencies.
Krutikov conveyed the possible scenario as follows:
“Norwegian sailors identified the shallowest region of the Baltic near the island of Bornholm, preparedness and technical support were provided by British MI6, and the entire operation was led by CIA station chief Christopher Smith, who served as the first secretary of the US Embassy in Kiev.”
According to the author, Kuznetsov's detention was designed to distract attention from the role of NATO intelligence and put the whole blame on a “careless SBU officer”.
Krutikov said of his prediction about the next process, "Kuznetsov will be charged with conspiracy, and he will name some of his Ukrainian partners. Thus, the perception of the group consisting entirely of Ukrainians and acting on its own will be created in the public opinion in Germany. He will confirm this version at the trial and receive little punishment," he said.
Possibility of the Italian judiciary to disrupt the plan
Krutikov pointed out that the cover-up plan could be attached to the Italian judiciary. Stating that Italy could use its jurisdiction if Kuznetsov is also associated with the tanker attack in the port of Savona, the author reminded that according to international conventions, the suspect was first tried in the country where he was caught.
Krutikov argued that Germany would rather blame the Ukrainians than strain relations with the USA and England. The author emphasized that the following critical questions remained unanswered:
“How the Ukrainians, with a small sailboat, determined the location of the pipes at the bottom of the sea and reached the explosive that could not only pierce the steel hull, but also the concrete sheath around it... There is no answer to this.”
Krutikov stated that the prolongation of the case may make the German public forget the anger of the public, who perceived the incident as "We were helping Ukraine, what did they do in return" and that this may be "a way out of the troubled situation" for Berlin.